William h



(N'O'Model.)

W. H. PEPPER.

ART 0]? MAKING GUT STOGKINGS.

No. 372,170. Patented Oct. 25, 1887.

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V UNITED STATES PATENT UEEICE.

WILLIAM H. PEPPER, OF LAKE VILLAGE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF 'IO ALBERT T. L. DAVIS, OF SAME PLACE.

ART F MAKING CUT STOCKINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,170, dated October l 1887.

Application filed October 6, 1885. Serial No. 179,144. (No model.)

-making part ofthis specication.

My art or method` of manufacturing stockings relates to the classof stockings and hose known in the trade as cut goods or cut stockings,77 which are lirst entirely k'nit in a continuous tubular web, and the feet of which are then formed by splitting a portion of the .tubular web endwise, turning the part which forms the bottom of the foot backward, shaping the toe by cutting the edges of the web,

and joining the cut edges by sewing on a sew ingmachine or by hand.

By my improved method I knit the tubular web with an additional thread knit therein at the proper intervals and to the desired extent, so as to re-enforce the stocking at the knee, at the heel, and atlthe toe, and, ifdesired, also along the whole bottom of the foot, thus making all the re-enforcingparts in the regular cpnlse of kn-itting'andwithout interrupting the same. The re-enforcement of the heel by this method is preferably also made to extend upward to the ankle, so as to provide against the wear of the stocking on the back part of the stocking, even above the heel proper, where even the greatest wear ordinarily takes place by coming in contact with the counter of the boot or shoe, and is not provided against by the ordinary re-enl'orced or thickened heels.

My invention consistsin makingre-enforced cut stockings by knitting alternate stockings of a continuous tubular web in oppositepositions, and the foot portions of adjacent stockings in lapped halttnbes, knitting in the kneere-enforcos of the desired widths alternately on opposite sides of the web, knitting inthe heel, ankle, and toe reenforces of the respective stockings in half tubular portions of the web, and where the said half-tubular webs coincide knitting in the revenforce entirely around the web, then cutting apart the two portions of the web between the foot and heel parts thereof, and nally uniting the cut edges of the respective stockings in the proper form.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a portion of a tubular knit web knit by my improved method, the part shown being sufficient for a pair of stockings; Fig. 2, a side view of a nished stocking vformed from such a web; Fig. 3, aA portion of a tubular-web corresponding to the web shown in Fig. 1, but showing the additional thread knit into the web for re-enforcing the entire bottom of the foot.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the iigures.

The additional thread for Ire-enforcing the tubular web at the places required is laid upon the needles ofthe knitting-machine by a suitable thread-carrier along with 'the regular thread and is knit into the web therewith, and the courses of stitches generally have the rei-enforcing thread extending only a part way around the web-say onehalf. Ordinarily the re-enforced part does not extend more than half-way round the web, except where two half-way `re-enforces lap by each other, as where the foot-laps of the web are formed, in which case the two re enforces embrace the entire circumference of the web. Thus, referring to Fig. 1, the knee re-enforces a ct extend halfway arounltl the web, those of the adjacent stockings being on opposite sides of the web, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the alternate stockings being, as shown, knit in opposite positions, as also the heel re-enforces b b. The two toe re enforces c c, each extending half-way around the web, lap each other between the points x x. Where these re-enforces for the two stockings thus lap each other the re-enforce is knit entirely around the web. In Fig. 3 the toe re-euforces c c extend onward to the heel re-enforces b b, so as to forni re-enforces for the bottoms of the feet. i

IOO

web, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the feet parts of the web are separated along the cross-lines w y w y and the longitudinal line y y, and the web is further split on the lines g/ z y to separate the heel from the upper part of the foot of each stocking.

The re-enforeing thread is woven into the regular tubular web by an ordinary circularknitting machine provided with a suitable additional thread-carrier, which at proper intervals is made to bring the additional thread to the needles. Such a machine is shown and described in my application for Letters Patent for an improved knittingniaehine iled August 29,1385, and numbered 175,658.

Stockings made by the above method are much superior to other stockings of the class, and they cost only the value of the additional re-enforeing thread used more than the ordinary stockings of the class. The re-enforced portions do not lengthen nor bulge the web, but simply thicken the web, rendering the same warmer and more durable at those places.

I claim as my inventiony The art or method of making re-enforced eut stockings, which consists in knittingT the alternate stockings ofthe web in opposite positions and the foot portions ofthe two in lapped half-tubes, knitting in the knee reenforces of any width alternately on opposite sides of the web, knitting in the heel, ankle, and toe re-enforees of the respective stockings in half-tubular portions of the web,andwhere the said half-tubular Webs coincide knittingr in the re-enforce entirely around the web, then cutting apart the two portions of the web be tween the foot and heel parts thereof, and finally securing the eut edges of the respect ive stockings together in the proper form, substantially as herein specified.

WM. I-I. PEPPER.

Vitnesses:

MARTIN A. HAYNEs, THoMAs HAM. 

